The Brickmakers Quality Charter (BQC) is a new quality mark credentialing scheme by the Brick Development Association to promote responsible sourcing of clay bricks and to provide the supply chain with assurances of high-quality product, manufacturing and ethical standards.
Michelmersh is dedicated to ensuring the highest standards of manufacturing and is extremely proud to have received certificate number one after a prompt submission with corresponding certifications, satisfying all eight critical assessment points (CAPs). The Group is therefore the first manufacturer to have been awarded the full three-star compliance.
Registration to the BQC is open to any clay brick manufacturer, with applicants required to demonstrate compliance with, and adherence to, a range of eight internationally recognized CAPs, including Responsible Sourcing Systems (BES 6001), Environmental Management Systems (ISO 14001) and modern anti-slavery policy and procedures. Clay brick manufacturers who achieve the required standards will be awarded one, two or three-star recognition – a gradient system based on the number of CAPs they are compliant with.
The BQC Assessment & Audit Panel comprises experts in brickmaking and credentialing systems, including Sarah Le Gresley, Marketing Director for the Michelmersh Group, who is also the Chair of the Brick Development Association’s Promotional Working Party.
Frank Hanna, Joint Chief Executive Officer at Michelmersh, comments: “The integrity of finished brick facades is of utmost importance to us, which is why we feel the Brickmakers Quality Charter is instrumental in identifying the provenance of products and corresponding manufacturing standards. It gives designers, contractors, end users and clients confidence that the products they specify are manufactured to the highest standards and ethics. With an increase in imported bricks showing insufficient origin information, and crucially, a lack of technical data relating to performance, the BQC gives ethical businesses, such as ourselves, the assurance that to hold a BQC credential is regarded as a recognisable stamp of a responsible brickmaker, creating a high-quality minimum standard across the industry.”
The BQC is a critical step forward for the construction industry, stamping out issues such as modern slavery, ensuring health and safety is paramount to production processes, and, above all, giving certainty to merchants and customers that products made by a BQC manufacturer meet the standards for quality and performance. With clay brick proven to last for centuries, it is vital that consistency of quality continues, adding value to the built environment for generations to come.
If you are a brick merchant or distributor, join Michelmersh on April 8th, 10am for a presentation to highlight and discuss the importance of this Industry initiative. Please register your interest by clicking here.
